Responsible development of quantum technologies: from competency landscape to pedagogical design

This study examines competencies identified in the literature as relevant to responsible quantum technology development and how these competencies are mobilized in practice and can be supported through innovative learning design. Based on this literature review (44 texts), we propose a bidimensional analytical lens articulating five transversal competencies with five Responsible Research and Innovation specific domains, serving as both an analytical tool and a pedagogical design instrument. We then apply this lens to an in-depth case study of the 2025 Quantum Dialogues Workshop, a four-day intensive interdisciplinary experience involving 26 participants from physics, ethics, law, political science, education, and communication. Results show that responsible innovation relies on integrated competency mobilization rather than isolated skill acquisition: interdisciplinary communication emerged as a prerequisite for ethical and governance reflection, complex problem solving enabled the identification of sustainability tensions, and systems thinking played a central integrative role. Critically, a gap between competency mobilization in action and participants’ capacity to explicitly articulate these competencies suggests that metacognitive scaffolding may constitute an important component of Responsible Research and Innovation oriented pedagogical design.